Means for identifying articles



Nov. 29, 1938. T. F. MURPHY MEANS FOR IDENTIFYING ARTICLES Filed Aug. 27, 1937 Patented Nov; 29, 1938 Thomas it. Murphy, Wellsboro, Pa. Application August 27, 1937, Serial No. 161,343

14 Claims; This invention relates to identification means and more particularly to means adapted to be applied to articles such as those fabricated of textile material or the like, for example, articles of apparel, house furnishings, or other items of do-- mestic economy-to indicate ownership, utility,

or grade, or to distinguish such articles upon any other appropriate basis.

The general object of the invention is to provide novel and improved means of identification for articles of the type described, and a novel method of applying such means and rendering them effective for the intended purpose.

As an example of one field of usefulness of my improved identification means, may be cited the distinguishing of articles of clothing or personal apparel belonging. to members of large families, pupils at boarding schools, members of athletic clubs, or residents of dormitories at institutions of various kinds. For thispurpose, there are numerous expedients employed for distinctively marking such articles, these including the inscribing upon them of names,numbers or other insignia by the use of indelible inks, or by sewing or embroidering names or initials thereon. Such means are almost invariably applied to the articles by the user or by someone else under his direction, and these methods are inconvenient, time consuming, and bothersome; and, in some cases,- expensive.

Therefore, as a more particular object of' the present invention, there is contemplated the application of novel identification means to the article before purchase, as one step in the process of manufacture or of preparing the article for the market; and it is also proposed to provide as a feature of said identification means, certain elements which may be very easily and quickly altered by the wearer or user after the articles come into his possession, whereby distinct individual marking of his property may be effected.

In 7 its preferred embodiment, the invention comprises the application to an article, such as an item of apparel, of a tag, label, or similar deremoved or obliterated during the ordinary han- I dling, wearing, or laundering of the article. By the removal of one or more of the individual 55 markings comprising the design, the indicia may (Cl. Mir-2) be altered or varied to distinguish the articles belonging to one memberof the family or organization from those belonging to another who has selected one or more difierent markings to delete.

It is also possible to eliminate all of the markings in cases where the identification function is not necessary or desired.

One very practical method of applying the marking means is by afixing separately removable loops of thread or lines of stitching to the article by means process, such as of any suitable textile working sewing, weaving, knitting, etc.

' frangible materia other wording indicating the purpose and method l and bearing a trademark and of altering the indicating pattern, may be tempo.- rarily affixed to the article, for example, by means of the very threa means.

ds which make up the marking Then after purchasingthe article the owner may tear oh the paper label and then pull out the selected marking threads.

Other objects and features of novelty of the in vention will be apparent from the following specification when read in connection with the accompanying drawingof my invention ample.

I In the drawing Figure 1 is a fr to which an indic in which certain embodiments til 1 tag or label to be applied to the garment or other a are illustrated by way of exagmentary plan view of a shirt ating or identifying means embodying the principles of my invention has been affixed;

of the label Figure Figures 3, 4 and 5 are fragmentary plan views of labels or tagsapplied to articles or materials which are to be distinguished from ,each other,

and each exhibiting a different pattern of markings, effected bythe removal of one or more of such markings by the respective owners;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary plan'view of. afabric article such as a embodiment of th handkerchief to which another e invention has been applied, in

its original condition as purchased; Figure '7 is a magnified sectional view similar to Figure 2 but t 6; and

usual in the case of this type of merchandise 2.

label is applied to the inside of'the shirt at the rear and beneath the collar portion thereof. This label usually exhibits the brand or. trademark of the article and the makers name. The counterpart of such a label is indicated at IZ-in the drawing and in addition to setting forth the brand as shown at I3, the label also contains wording which indicates the additional function of the identification means forming the subject of this. invention, such as represented by the words Hismark-Hermark, denoted by the reference numeral l4. The actual means for providing individual identification markings for the articles is shown at I5 and in this particular embodiment comprises a design or pattern 'made up of six separate threads represented by the reference numerals l6. These threads may be applied in any suitable way as, for example, by ordinary stitching as would be effected by a sewing machine, or by weaving or knitting but in any case applied so as to be readily removable. However; in the exemplary form illustrated in the present case, the thread markings I 6 are applied as single loops of thread knotted upon the underside of the label [2 as indicated at, I! in Figures 2 and 7 of the drawing. V

In order to efiectively differentiate the possessions of one member of the family or organization from those of the others,'the members should agree beforehand to select certain individual groupings of the markings indicated in their original arrangement at l5, and then each will pull out one or. more of the threads IS in order that the remaining threads will represent his particular identifying pattern. For example, in Figure 3 of the drawing'the owner of the article represented fragmentarily at 20 has pulled out the upper horizontal thread l6 leaving-the threads forming an X-shaped pattern over the bottom horizontal marking, as indicated at IS. The owner of the article 2| represented in Figure 4 has pulled'out the upper left hand thread l8 of the X-shaped design, leaving his pattern I5 and the owner of the article 22 shown in Figure 5 has eliminated both the upper left and the lower right hand thread "5 to leave an identify is found to be necessary, a larger number of threads than the six shown in the present embodiment may be initially applied to the article.

In the modification of my invention illus trated in Figures 6-9 of the drawing, there is provided means for applying an inconspicuous idemtifying sign to articles such as handkerchiefs,

napkins, or the like in which the tag 12 would be inappropriate. In this embodiment a label 25 is employed which is preferably made of paper or label or slip 25 may be secured to the article such as the handkerchief 30 by the threads l6 which comprise the markings, as clearly shown in Figures 6 and 7 of the drawing. Then after purchasing the article the user will tear off the label 25 and the identifying pattern l5 will appear as in Figure 8. Then the owner will pull out one or more of the threads Hi to effectuate a remaining pattern which will be the distinctive marking of his possessions as, for example, the

pattern indicated at I5 in Figure 9.

In order to aid in the quick identification of the articles and to improve the appearance of difierent color.

It will be readily understood that in the utili- I zation of this invention in a particular field, as

for instance in marking textiles or apparel subject to laundering, a design or pattern such as I the one illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing may easily become established and universally ac- .cepted in the trade, and in this manner eliminate the necessity for the consumer to make indi'- vidual markings after purchase. This proposed standardization of the original pattern is also highly desirable in order that the'same final identifying pattern adopted by an-individual user may be available to him in all of his articles of apparel such as shirts, socks,'underwear, neckties, or the like, at whatever time they are purchased.

Of course, it will be seen that in such application to articles of apparel where, because of the nature or number of the household or family membership, no identification means is necessary, or where because of the nature of'the article itself, for example, in the case of a handkerchief. or where the owner might not wish to have it contain the identifying thread marking, all of the threads can be obliterated without the slight-v est harm to the article.

whereby articles belonging to a large number of personsresiding together may, be differentiated,

-.and a very wide variety of distinguishing marks provided with very little care, exertion, or inconvenience on the part of the owner.

1 It will be understood that various changes and modifications can be made in the embodiments illustrated and described herein without departsome thin frangible material and may bear any insignia desired such as the trade-mark, manufacturers name or the like, and also the designation indicated at B4 indicative of the distinguishing function of the marking means. This ing from the scope of the invention as defined by ,the design each of the threads l6 may be of a the following claims. 4

Having thus describedthe invention, what is' claimed as new and desired to be'secured by Letters Patent is:

1. Identification means for an article of the class described comprising a group of separate like adapted to be applied to said articles, a plurality of detached marking devices separately f amxed to each of said checks, labels,'or tags in a regular'predetermined pattern, said marking devices all being secured to said label or the like against accidental obliteration but readily removable by intention, whereby the removal of one or more of said marking devices results in the formation of different patterns easily dis- 75-- tinguishable from the original and from each other.

3. Identification means for articles of the class' described comprising threads aflixed to said articles so as to form a plurality of separate visible readily removable lengths arranged to form a predetermined pattern, whereby when one or more of said lengths of thread is pulled out'the patterns remainingare readily distinguishable from the original pattern and from each other.

4. Identification means for articles of the class described comprising a plurality of separate threads aflixed to the article to form an original standardized pattern, each of said threads being readily removable from the articles, whereby when one or more of said threads is pulled out, the patterns remaining are readily distinguishable from the original pattern and from each other.-

5. Identification means for articles of the class described comprising a plurality of different colored threads aflixed to the article to form an' original standardized pattern, each of said threads being readily removable from the articles, whereby when one or more of said threads is pulled out, the patterns remaining are readily distinguishable from the original pattern and' articles. I

7. Identifying means for an article of the class described comprising a changeable label adapted to be applied to said article, a plurality of separate threads afiixed to said label so as to form a predetermined pattern thereon, said threads being separately and readily removable from the label whereby when one or more of said threads is removed the patterns remaining are readily distinguishable from the original pattern and from similar patterns efiected by the removal of other threads from similar labels applied to other articles, and other means on said label indicating the function of said changeable pattern.

8. Identification means for articles of the class described comprising a label bearingan indicajtion of the function of said identification means, a plurality of separate threads securing said label to an article, said threads being arranged to form a predetermined pattern, each of said separate threads being readily removable, whereby when one or more of said threads is pulled out, the pattern remaining is readily distinguishable from the original pattern and from patterns applied to other articles from which different threads have been removed.

9. Identificationmeans for articles of the class described comprising a label bearing display matter, a plurality of separate threads securing said label to said article, said threads being arranged I to form a predetermined pattern, each of said separate threadsbeing readily removable, whereby when one .or more. of said threads is pulled out, the pattern remaining is readily distinguishable from the original pattern and from patterns appliedto other articles from which different threads have been removed, said label being composed of frangible material whereby it may be torn from the article without disturbing the,

merce of the class described identifiable compristion of said article for the market, and then removing from said article certain selected ones' of said marking means in order to efi'ectuate a distinctive identifying pattern of the remaining marking means. a

11'. The method. of rendering the individual ones of a series of otherwise similar or identical articles identifiable, which comprises afiixing to each article a plurality of separate threads to form an original standardized pattern, then pulling out one or more selected threads from each article so that the remaining threads in each article form a distinctive identifying pattern which is different from that of the original pattern and from each other.

12. The method of rendering the individualv ones of a series of otherwise similar or identical articles identifiable, which comprises afiixing to each of said articles a frangible label by means of a plurality of separate threads, the visible portions of which form an original standardized pattern, then after said label has served its purpose, tearing' off the label leaving the threads in the article intact, and finally pulling out one or more selected threads from each article so that the remaining threads in each article form a distinctive identifying pattern which is difierent from that of the original pattern and from,

each other.

.13. The combination of an article of commerce intended for ultimate personal use or consumption with individual identification means therefor, said 'means comprising a group of separate marking devices affixed to said article to form a complete distinctive design, said marking devices all being secured to said article against accidental obliteration or removal but readily removable by intention, whereby the removal of one or more of said marking devices by the user results in the formation of different patterns tion with changeable individual ownership indicia therefor, said indicia comprising a group of detached marking devices separately applied to said article priorto use so as to form an original standardized pattern, said marking devices each being separately ,and readily remov-.

' able from said article by the user, whereby when certain selected ones of said marking devices are removed, the pattern remaining is readily distinguishable from the original pattern and from similar patterns efi ected by the removal of other of said marking devices from other articles of the same kind belonging to other users, said devices being so aflixed that they are not likely to be inadvertently removed during use,

handling, cleaning, or otherwise servicing of. the

article. 7

THOMAS F. 

